Page 184 of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

She felt the blood drain from her face.

All the heat guttered down her back, slopping into her gut where it churned, pushing her dinner back up. Her throat constricted at the sudden drop into cold fear.

‘Pip?’

‘Uh . . . I . . . suddenly desperate for a wee,’ she said, jumping up from her chair with her phone in hand, almost tripping over the dog.

She darted from the room and across the hall. Her thick woollen socks slipped out under her on the polished oak and she fell, catching the weight of the fall on one elbow.

‘Pippa?’ Victor’s voice called.

‘I’m OK,’ she said, picking herself up. ‘Just skidded.’

She shut the bathroom door behind her and locked it. Slamming down the toilet-seat lid, she turned shakily to sit on top of it. Her phone between both hands, she opened it and clicked on to the message.

You stupid bitch. Leave this alone while you still can.

From Unknown.

Pippa Fitz-Amobi

EPQ 08/10/2017

Production Log – Entry 24

I can’t sleep.

School starts in five hours and I can’t sleep.

There’s no part of me that thinks this can be a joke any more. The note in my sleeping bag, this text. It’s real. I’ve plugged all the leaks in my research since the camping trip; the only people who know what I’ve discovered are Ravi and those I’ve interviewed.

Yet someone knows I’m getting close and they are starting to panic. Someone who followed me into the woods. Someone who has my phone number.

I tried to message them back, a futilewho is this?It errored. It couldn’t send it. I’ve looked it up: there are certain websites and apps you can use to anonymize texts so I can neither reply nor find out who sent it.

They are fittingly named. Unknown.

Is Unknown the person who actually murdered Andie Bell? Do they want me to think they can get to me too?

I can’t go to the police. I don’t have enough evidence yet. All I have are unsworn statements from people who knew different fragments of Andie’s secret lives. I have seven persons of interest but no one main suspect yet. There are too many people in Little Kilton who had motive to kill Andie.

I need tangible proof.

I need that burner phone.

And only then will I leave this alone, Unknown.Only when the truth is out there and you no longer are.

Twenty-Two

‘Why are we here?’ Ravi said when he caught sight of her.

‘Shhh,’ Pip hissed, grabbing his coat sleeve to pull him behind the tree with her. She peeked her head out past the trunk, watching the house across the street.

‘Shouldn’t you be at school?’ he asked.

‘I’ve pulled a sickie, OK?’ Pip said. ‘Don’t make me feel worse about it than I already do.’

‘You’ve never pulled a sickie before?’